Hi Friends! I think I win the prize for longest blog post title! I wanted to make this zentangle card because it is a challenge over at Oriental Stamp Art this month. I had a pretty kimono stamp I won in a past OSA contest from Stone house Stamps that I wanted to use and I found it to be a perfect image for this technique demonstrated in today’s video:

Using an open image like the line art kimono gives you a structure and makes trying zentangle a little less intimidating. It is just doodling after all, nothing to be scared of. 😀 I stamped on smooth white cardstock with waterproof archival ink and drew with Micron Pens because they would be waterproof when I colored over them with my watercolor pencils. The card I made is 4.25″x4.25″ and I wanted to make a cute envelope for it so I used my new We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch board donated to me from Oriental Trading Company. They have a lot of inexpensive scrapbooking and cardmaking supplies now, check them out if you havent lately! And don’t forget to tell them Lindsay the frugal crafter sent you and thank them for supporting my arts and craft tutorials.

Oh! I want to share the Crafty Owl website, she has a cool online template generator for making custom envelopes and custom boxes using the envelope punch board. Thank you to Joanne the Crafty Owl for sharing her template formulas and to YouTube viewers Kristen K and Jayne Saddington for telling me about her website! That is it for me today. I have a very messy house that needs attention, my dog picked up so much sand on our walk today you’d think we lived in a beach house! I hope your day involves more creativity than mine and as always happy crafting!

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is recovering from the long Memorial Day weekend! Last week I had an About Art Accents stamp giveaway and today I can announce the randomly drawn winner: Rita Ruff! Congrats Rita, I have sent you an email so check your spam folder if you have not seen it yet! here is another card made with the resist technique from last week and some of my homemade gelatin print paper:

I use another stamp From About Art Accents on that card too! Also I scanned some of my favorite gelatin prints and I have packaged them in a printable kit for sale, if you are interested you can find them in my shop.

Happy Monday Folks! I had fun stamping a card (it’s been a while, I know!) to enter into this weeks challenge at Oriental Stamp Art. They asked us to make a card that was “Holiday” and “Asian” in theme. Then I remembered thatAAA/Art Neko had generously given me the Holly Fairy stamp to give away on my blog and my card was born. Fairy Christmas! BTW, anytime you shop at About Art Accents/Art Neko be sure to use the code Lindsay10% to save 10% on your order!

Wanna win it? Just leave me a comment (on this post) between now and next Sunday (the 9th) and will randomly pick a winner on Monday. What a way to start the week! Here is a close up of the coloring. I treated myself to a set of Spectrum Noir markers (the Brights set) from Crafter’s Companion, they had all the 24 packs on sale for $24 and free shipping at Consumer Crafts (It was a bad time to be frugal because I wish I had bought them all!)

I was a bit hesitant because I purchased a set of the light flesh tones at ACmoore when they first came out and they were dried out. I added some denatured alcohol to them and got them working but I was not a fan. I notice, though, that the lighter colors of alcohol markers do seem to be a bit dry feeling but these seemed too dry. I thought that maybe ACmoore might have got a bad batch so for $24 I took a chance and they were all good and juicy and they played nice with my other markers. I had to use a dark brown Promarker, dark red Tria and a tan Copic. I know I need more markers like a hole in the head but I am sorry I passed up getting the other sets now 😦

Something else I want to enable you to buy…er… I mean recommend are Pan Pastels, I picked up 3 a few months ago (magenta, turquoise and lime green) when they were on sale for $4 each because I wanted to try them. Well, they are expensive but I can see why, I tapped a sponge into the color and rubbed it on my background and WOW! the color blended in beautifully and a tap of color was all I needed to do the background! I think I might ask for some for Christmas…my Christmas list is getting longer by the moment (I also want Santa to bring me a Fire Works beadmaking torch kit!)

The final touch on the card was a game piece that I saved from Axis and Allies, hubby was tossing the game and there were cute mini airplanes and chips. I like the graphic punch the Japan chip gives and the repetition of the circle theme on the card.

Well, that’s it for me! I am in the final push getting ready for my craft fair on Saturday. Today is my sewing day. I am making juggling balls, hand-warmers and key fobs. Don’t forget to leave a comment to win the beautiful fairy stamp from About Art Accents/Art Neko! Til next time happy crafting!

Howdy folks! This weeks challenge at Oriental Stamp Art was to make a pop-up slider card. Since I have never tried this type of card before I decided to give it a go:

FYI the card on the left shows the card with the tag pulled out, the one on the right has the tag pushed in…It will make sense when you watch the video. The blue ink I used is Stampin Up! Brilliant Blue.

It was really fun and super quick to make (like 15 minutes!) and these beautiful Asian stamps from About Art Accents were just perfect. Remember you save 10% on all About Art Accentsand Art Neko Stamps with my coupon code: Lindsay10% Ain’t it good to have connections 😀 Here is a real-time video on how to make this card, see I told you it was quick!

Well, today I made my first swing (AKA flip-flop) card. It was a challenge at Oriental Stamp Art and I like to try something new now and then. Here is what the card looks like when it is folded, it would come out of a standard A4 envelope like this:

And here it is open, the lovely ATC frame is from this set by About Art Accents, I love the set it is from, there are 9 ATC frames and I use them a lot for scrapbooking, don’t forget to use my coupon code: Lindsay10% when you order to save 10% off your total price!

But wait! There’s more, the center panel flips around to reveal this, again, beautiful stamps from About Art Accents:

Here is a video to show how I made it:

Here is the template I promised in the video:

Here are the supplies I used but feel free to use a ruler and a craft knife if you don’t have a paper trimmer like the one I used, both ways will work. I want to experiment with making shaped windows. You can alter the template bu making the inner flipper a different size (just change the margins where you cut) or you can even off set the window, experiment! If you do try it leave me a link in the comment section so I can check it out too!

So, when I first saw the challenge at OrientalStampArt to create a folding screen card the first thing that popped into may head was making a dressing screen for my Daughters’ “Barbie Dream House” but since my girls never play with their Barbies I made this instead:

I cut the screen out with my die cutter using SCAL software using my versatile Gothic Arch SVG set (it has printable templates too if you don’t own a die cutter) and it was easy as pie to put together. The stunning rubber stamps I used are by About Art Accents and I got really clear crisp impressions by using the curved rock-a-block stamp mounts and stamping on a squishy mat. I stamped the geisha 3 times; on cream, green and purple washi paper then cut out the parts and assembled the green and purple papers over the cream to make a sturdy paper doll.

I wanted to be able to mail this card eventually so I made a belly band to keep it closed.

I can even fold up the doll if I like by unhooking the back of the stand. There are slits on the cardstock strip to hold it together so it will stand.

I employed some fun techniques with this project. Here, me share my tricks with you 😀

I made these buttons out of clay out of moulds I made from vintage buttons (full tutorial on this post):

For a super quick crinkled ribbon I sprayed purple and pearl ink on a piece of seam binding (it is cheaper to buy a 100 yard roll of seam binding and dye it as you need it and it is always just the color you want!) scrunching it up and blasting it with a heat tool, the heat shrinks the rayon and sets the wrinkles. Just be careful not to heat it too close or one spot too long or it will scorch!

These leaf embellishments were made by breaking up bits of Friendly Plastic (AMACO) into a silicone mould and heating it with the heat gun. I am actually using a pretty silicone fondant mould made by Wilton. Be aware that many of the clay moulds out there are not silicone and you might melt them with this technique! I have been playing with Friendly Plastic a lot lately, look for a tutorial coming up soon!

I don’t know why I didn’t think of making paper dolls with my geisha stamps before, they are such beautiful designs. I hope you have some time to get crafty this weekend, til next time happy crafting!

TIPS!

To save space (and money) I do not usually mount my stamps on cling cushion, instead I spread a thin layer of Aleenes Tack It Over Again glue on the back of my unmounted stamps. Then I simply place the stamp on a clear block and stamp on a squishy surface like a silicone mat or mouse pad. Sometimes tho when I have a highly detailed stamp or a stamp that has a lot of rubber like this silhouette style stamp I need a little help to get it to stamp well. I discovered Rock-a-Block stamp mounts (crafter’s companion brand-I got mine at joann.com for 40% off when they had a stamp sale) last year and they work great for stamps like this and the curved surface made inking it up with my Kaliedacolor rainbow ink pad a snap! But, if you don’t have a rock-a-block you can find something similar to use around your house I bet! I have some finicky stamps that are too big for my RABs so I found a curved glass jar that works just as well (it will do until I can afford a Mega-Mount!) and best of all it was free!

Embossed label (without a nestie!)

For the octagon I used my electronic die cutter to cut 2 octagons, one 1/8″ larger than the other. I glued the smaller centered on the bigger one and stamped my sentiment then inked the edges for the trendy embossed label look, best of all you can do this with any shape, you can even cut them by hand if you have no die cutter. Just hand cut the smaller shape first, glue it to a larger piece of the same color and trim that 1/8″ larger and ink, easy peasy!

Got Creative Block? Use a Sketch!

This card came together in minutes because the layout was preplanned. Sketches are great because you end up placing elements in a new-to-you way. A sketch is a great way to break out of your comfort zone and try something new. And for those of you who think it is cheating take a look at the Oriental Stamp Art Challenge blog, you will see that we all use the same sketch but no two are alike!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Tomorrow I am going to share my clear/UM stamp reorganization project with you, I do hope you will come by and see! Til then Happy Crafting!